Reviews of Balmy Days & Sundays

Floral and slightly feminine, this reminds me of a female version of Neroli Portofino. Sounds crazy, but that's the first thing that came to mind. Nice rose note in this one. The ladies will love wearing this one. 7/10

A first blast and I'm literally inebriated by a sparkling first of earthy green patterns and floral elements (it seems a tart aqueous accord of peony and freesia). This phase is really bitter/sour, dry fruity, spicy, vaguely minty and powerfully intense (it seems some grapefruit lingers around joined with lime/bergamot, red berries and plummy notes). Yes I detect a Humieki&Graef's (Multiple Rouge jumps on mind) sort of initial approach in this phase (the more "reliable" one of the whole Balmy Days & Sundays' trip). In a short while the greenish/floral metallic approach "in a preordained way" fades in order to let free the stage to a more conventional and "aromachemically" veined (vaguely detergent/medicinal) balmy muskiness somewhat dull, vaguely ozonic and cosmetical (in spite of its fizzy sunny "watermelony" mood). I don't see any natural greens collapse since the "nature" of the aroma is deliberately synthetic and "cosmetically appointed" for the younger crowd's (likeable or not) easy-going standards. Of course not my genre of aroma (-chemical).

Balmy Days & Sundays opens with a metallic, green-floral and boldly spicy (eugenol, cloves) blend which kind of reminds me of Geste by Humiecki and Graef without the tropical note – here replaced by a "yellow", kind of pollen note of mimosa and freesia. Pungent, sour, abstract and almost "industrial", although in a rather clumsy way – like if it was undecided between that, and just being a mainstream green-floral scent with mediocre-to-cheap components. The floral accord is delicate, but perceivable enough to create a silky breeze that softens and sweetens the overall metallic and unfriendly sour smell – that silky floral breeze will be the drydown eventually. To be honest I personally find this scent dull, sheer, uninspired, artificial - in a non-intriguing way, more a synonym for "plain" and "generic" - and not compelling, mostly because of an overall cheap quality which brings Balmy this close to cheap mainstream scents like Pleats Please by Miyake (among dozens of others).

Green fragrances live or die depending on how close they come to nature; few abstract greens work well (perhaps something with the severe attitude of Crystalle). For me Balmy Days & Sundays, with its fabric conditioner aura, pretty much flops right out of the bottle. The green notes are generic, slightly minty at the start. None of the dewy grass and sun-kissed meadows intended – a hint of sappiness is the closest one gets to reality. The backing is equally mushed up florals of the ‘fresher’ end of the white floral spectrum. I know I am supposed to perceive all of this as cool and relaxing, instead I can’t shake the impression of a chemical concoction (as indeed perfumes are) and a somewhat low-end one at that. The proposed chypric girding of moss would definitely have been an improvement, but it’s undetectable to my nose.

There is something about this fragrance that does not get along with me at all. I've come back to this one multiple times in order to give it a chance, but my sample is dry now, and still.......no. I imagine it is very soft and pleasant for most folks. It may just be me. If I had to guess from the notes, it is the mimosa that I can't come to terms with. Mimosa and moi do not get along. I find it sharp and chemical smelling, for lack of a better term, in most compositions. And it may very well be the culprit here, even though I do not specifically smell it on it's own.

What I do smell is a soft green opening. The floral heart is pleasant, and I smell a faint pink, not dark, rose and a lily of the valley blend for the most part, each separate and then blended. Lily and a very soft musk complete the drydown.

If not for the sharp, chemical slant, my opinion would be different. Or if it was just for a short phase, I could work around it. But this runs throughout most of the fragrance, not relenting until close to the final drydown.

The opening of Ineke BALMY DAYS & SUNDAYS reminds me of the opening of Moschino CHEAP & CHIC. From there, however, the composition turns into a somewhat synthetic-smelling green, green, green perfume. My cat hated this one, so it fell immediately from contention. I guess that I do in fact agree with him that it seems a bit too chemically to qualify as a green that I'd reach for. Green and synthetic are natural enemies, n'est-ce pas?

In the interest of fair reviewing, I should make clear that I number among those who eschew all Irish Spring green colognes (chez Creed et al.). If you like them, then you might like this one as well.